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Press release

March 27, 2014

Maybe one of the Luckiest Cartons of Milk Ever Purchased Leads to $1.3 Million Scratchers® Win in L.A. County!

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SACRAMENTO – You have to need milk pretty badly if you’re heading out in the middle of the night to grab a half gallon at 1 a.m.! So while Melissa Garcia was getting ready to pay at the San Gabriel Valley convenience store, she thought while the time might be late, it wasn’t at all too late for her to pick up three Scratchers games and try her luck again.

“I never win. My husband mostly plays, but that day I don’t know – I felt like I wanted to buy. I can’t believe it yet!” Garcia said. What she can’t believe is after she got home and scratched her first two tickets, she came up empty. But on the third and final one (a $2 California Lucky for Life game), her very last scratch revealed the word “LIFE.” Just like that, she won $1,000 a week for the next 25 years! That comes out to a whopping $1.3 million.

Garcia had brought home the milk AND the win! What’s funny is she had no idea she was suddenly a millionaire; the 40-year-old Rosemead woman went straight to bed without giving her Scratchers tickets a second thought. “I didn’t really know how (the game) worked. I slept it off I think. And when I woke up in the morning I showed my cousin and he goes, ‘You won!’ I still wasn’t 100 percent sure,” Garcia added with a nervous laugh.

She’s sure now! Garcia knew it wasn’t a dream after redeeming her ticket at the Lottery’s Santa Fe Springs District Office, and found herself holding a jumbo check with a whole lot of zeros on it. “It’s still sinking in. I didn’t know it was this big,” Garcia confessed.

After giving it some thought, Garcia decided to take the cash option which means she will be receiving a lump sum amount of $750,000 before taxes. As for the 7-Eleven at 1200 Garfield Avenue in Alhambra (Los Angeles County) where Garcia bought her lucky ticket – well, this store is a winner as well! It will be receiving a $6,500 retailer bonus for selling the game to her.

So what does Garcia have planned for all her money? “I don’t know yet. I’ve never won before! We’ll see, but it will be something good!” She does plan on sharing some of her winnings with her cousin Evaristo, who was again the one who broke the news that she’d won! “The very last ticket that I scratched was it. I got lucky!” Lucky for Life to be specific!

The California Lucky for Life Scratchers family is part of the Lottery’s continued effort to give out more prizes, create more winners and earn more money for education. For more information on the game and how to play, click here. Also, like all Lottery Scratchers games, the California Lucky for Life family of games comes with a second chance to win the top prize. Just subscribe to our 2nd Chance Program and submit any non-winning California Lucky for Life Scratchers ticket code for a chance to win.

The mission of the California Lottery is to provide supplemental funding to California schools while simultaneously supporting local communities. More than 95 cents of every dollar spent by our players goes back to local communities in the form of contributions to public schools and colleges, prizes and retail compensation. The California Lottery urges its customers to play responsibly and within their budgets. If you feel you have a gambling problem, or know someone who does, you can get help at 1-800-GAMBLER.